A gamer wants to build her first gaming PC, but a friend strongly advises her against it. A pre-built PC would be the better choice. The gamer fears that pre-built PCs are significantly more expensive. What is the current market situation like?
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A gamer reports on Reddit that she wants to finally build a gaming PC with the money she has saved for a long time. She shares that she has never built a PC and bought her last PC in 2021 through Facebook. It was, after all, built by the seller himself.
She shared her plans with a friend, but he told her that it was “stupid” to build a PC herself. She should rather buy a pre-built PC when she has saved up enough money. The gamer explains that this made her feel insecure: on the one hand, she believes that pre-built PCs are way too expensive, and on the other hand, she fears that she might make a mistake during assembly or that something might break.
I told a friend that I would build myself a new PC as soon as I have saved enough money. He told me to opt for a pre-built PC, but I don’t really want that, as they are so expensive. On the other hand, I am really afraid that I will make a mistake or that something will break while I am building it.
But is the gamer actually right? Are pre-built PCs really that much more expensive than building one yourself? Because the situation has changed dramatically in the last few months and years, even in favor of pre-built PCs. We have calculated this for you with an example.
Are pre-built PCs really more expensive than self-built PCs?
What are pre-built PCs anyway? When we talk about pre-built computers today, we often do not mean the computers that you can occasionally buy at the Aldi around the corner. Because nowadays you can assemble a PC from components of your choice with specialized manufacturers, which are then assembled for you. So you are buying a custom-built PC, and the PC builder charges a fee for the assembly.
However, you can still buy pre-built PCs with fixed hardware, for example on Amazon or at Aldi. But especially on Amazon, many pre-built PCs are sold that offer very poor hardware.
This is what it looked like in recent years: Particularly during the Corona pandemic, hardware was sometimes unaffordable: For a graphics card, you often had to pay more than double the recommended retail price, and PS5 consoles were constantly sold out.
At that time, pre-built PCs were a real alternative, as PC builders had access to graphics cards at a significantly cheaper price through specialist trade. This price difference sometimes led players to buy pre-built PCs only to then disassemble the graphics card and resell it.
What is the current situation like? Prices are now closer together again. As an example, we took a mid-range PC from CSL (via csl-computer.com). The seller is asking for 1,199 euros, it is currently discounted and 50 euros cheaper. However, we are orienting ourselves to the manufacturer’s RRP.
We calculated the components but had to use comparable parts for the power supply, case, and SSD since CSL uses proprietary components that cannot be purchased in retail. You can find the components and market prices we calculated via Geizhals in the following table:
| CPU | Ryzen 7 5700X: | 144 euros |
| GPU | GeForce RTX 4070 | 649 euros |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 | 104 euros |
| Memory | 32 GB DDR4 | 52 euros |
| Storage (SSD) | 1 TB M.2-SSD | approx. 60 euros |
| Power Supply | Power supply with 600 watts | approx. 80 euros |
| Case | BeQuiet Pure Base 501 | 69.89 euros |
| Total Price | 1,159 euros |
What do pre-built PCs and self-build PCs cost in comparison? If you buy all the components individually, you would have to pay 1,159 euros for the hardware. Thus, you are currently just under the manufacturer’s RRP of CSL.
The calculation also shows that the self-built PC is hardly cheaper than the pre-built PC from a manufacturer in this example. And with the manufacturer, you also get a guarantee that the computer really works. By the way, neither system includes an operating system like Windows.
We cannot take into account special offers from PC builders or retailers like Amazon, Mindfactory, or Alternate that can significantly lower component prices.
My colleague and MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus also believes that one should buy a pre-built PC. Because it is almost as good as self-built and is now hardly more expensive. You can read his opinion directly on MeinMMO: I used to build PCs myself – today I would never do that again
